$1 of every $6: Experts say more early education could eventually save money

Dec. 8, 2013

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Megan Cornman tutors third-grader Samyia Malone, left, and second-grader Remi Smith at Study Alternative Center. The Springfield district spends about 18 percent of its operating budget per year to give struggling students a boost. / Valerie Mosley/News-Leader

About this series

Springfield Public Schools spends at least $1 of every $6 in its budget to level the playing field or provide extra help for students who struggle. Today: The investment in intervention Monday: Preparing for success in high school and college Tuesday: Early childhood education paying off

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At least $1 out of every $6 in this year’s Springfield Public Schools operating budget goes to intervene with students who are behind — or need extra support to succeed.

District officials say at least $11.5 million — 5 percent of its $224 million budget — is spent annually on remediation. It pays for efforts such as alternative programs, reading and math specialists and credit recovery programs.

The district spends an additional $30 million — 13 percent of its budget — on special education and early childhood special education to level the playing field for students with special needs.

Beyond all that, millions of additional dollars are spent to provide a wide range of interventions, everything from small class sizes to social workers, aimed at removing obstacles or stabilizing students most at risk of stumbling or disengaging from school.

All that adds up more than $41 million, or more than 18 percent of the operating budget.

As Springfield’s poverty rate grows, district officials believe the demand for remediation and intervention will only increase.

Superintendent Norm Ridder said the district invests “quite a bit” to help struggling students, many of whom didn’t get the right start or lost their academic footing in the critical early years.

“It’s a major investment in education,” he said. “We would spend less money if we could target students at an earlier age. The earlier we could intervene the better.”

Ridder believes correcting the problem is dramatically more expensive than preventing it. He said the district could eventually save money on remediation if more was invested in preparing students for kindergarten.

“A big key is that early intervention,” said Brian Hubbard, director of Title I programs in Springfield, which use federal money to provide extra resources to schools with the highest levels of families in poverty. “If we can reduce the gap before they enter kindergarten, they are set up for success.”

But district officials have been reluctant to shift local funds to early childhood education, especially during tight budget years, citing unmet needs in many other areas. They point out that state funding is earmarked for K-12 education.

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At the same time, the mostly federal funding streams that have been used to support preventive measures — such as early childhood education, interventions for at-risk low-income students and Parents As Teachers — have been heavily hit by cuts following the recession.

Similar funding cuts have also hit key community resources, such as the Ozarks Area Community Action Corporation, which provides Head Start classes and other support for young and struggling families.

The Every Child Promise, a collaborative effort to find solutions for the most critical issues facing local children, is nearing the launch of its 10-year strategic plan. All of the proposed components are centered on providing more opportunities in the first six years of life.

The group — made up of business, faith, nonprofit, civic and education leaders — zeroed in on the early years, believing that is where the investment of time and resources will have the greatest impact.

Ridder said the district would prefer to spend more on preventing — or addressing — academic gaps before they become insurmountable.

“The philosophy behind remediation is that the earlier we intervene the more powerful the impact,” Ridder said.

Simply put, more quality early learning experiences, in public or private settings, will reduce costs later on.

“We’re going to have more graduating because of preschool,” he said. “We won’t need the remediation as much.”

Invest now, save later

If additional resources were invested in the front end, it would save money down the road.

District officials agree with that statement but add it would be difficult to estimate the exact amount of savings, though they could snowball over time.

They contend the greater savings would be to the community at large if adequate early preparation results in fewer dropouts and more students graduating from high schools with the skills to succeed in college and the workplace.

Associate Superintendent Marty Moore said the need to provide extra help to students would never totally go away but it would likely lessen over time.

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“You still have to backfill a little,” she said. “You don’t say to the kids who are already in the system ‘Oh, sorry.’ ” But over time we should diminish (help) at the back end with fewer students needing assistance.”

Officials with the National Institute for Early Education Research, or NIEER, said there has been virtually no research done to explore the link between increased access to quality early childhood programs and a drop in academic remediation costs — largely because the term “remediation” is too broad.

But Milagros Nores, associate director of research for NIEER’s Center on Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes, said numerous studies show a direct impact between kindergarten readiness and significant reductions — as much as 30 percent — in the number of children who need special education or end up repeating a grade.

Nores said reducing either one — children who are held back or those with learning delays — would have a significant and positive impact on a district’s operating budget.

Citing extensive research in New Jersey and Massachusetts, Nores said districts with wide access to quality early education start to see the payoff by the time students finish elementary school. That’s when the gap starts to widen when it comes to achievement levels.

Payoff in 4th or 5th grade

“By fourth or fifth grade, the district with high quality preschool will see an impact in retention … and a big drop in special education,” she said.

Nores said research shows children with quality early childhood education tend to perform better academically than students who don’t have that experience.

She specifically cited the Abbott Preschool in New Jersey, which offers high quality pre-K in public and private settings, and offers a “wraparound” system to fulfill many families’ needs for full-time services.

The study shows services to young families — whether provided by the district or community groups — has an impact on academic achievement, social-emotional development and even the ability for mothers to thrive in the workplace.

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“Providing the combination of services — high quality preschool and wraparound social services — in essence supports the educational program,” she said.

For children who are struggling, getting to them early and providing that help is critical.

Amber Bowler, an elementary teacher at SPS’ Study Alternative Center, said the earlier she can reach a child the better chance she has to help them get back to grade level. She is one of three teachers who typically work with students two or more years behind academically.

“When they’re still in elementary, they haven’t developed this attitude that they’re behind so they’re still excited about school,” she said.

Bowler’s goal is to help every child in her class make up more than a year’s worth of lost ground. She knows if she doesn’t get them on solid footing by the end of elementary school, the job becomes more complicated.

“I worry about the kids entering middle school because they don’t have someone there holding their hand,” Bowler said. “They might get frustrated and they’re more likely to drop out of school.”

Poverty influences need

The rate of Springfield students qualifying for free and reduced lunch has skyrocketed over the past decade, reflecting the growing number of families struggling to make ends meet.

The rate went from 39.4 percent during the 2002-03 year to 54.3 percent last year. It was even higher, a staggering 61 percent, in elementary grades.

Children who live in poverty are more likely to have unmet basic needs — such as food, clothing and safe housing — high mobility and higher day-to-day stress levels.

Associate Superintendent Ben Hackenwerth said ideally the amount of money to provide extra support for children would grow as the poverty level grows. But, that is not how it has worked in recent years.

“They need to be parallel to each other,” he said. “Need is increasing and resources are dwindling so that’s a constant struggle.”

Moore said remediation and intervention evolve based on the needs of individual students.

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“We think of it as a continuum of support so sometimes you get progressively more intensive with the level of and the type of support you offer,” Moore said. “Think of it as a stair step ... A gap closes but then there may be additional gaps that appear so it feels sometimes like an ongoing effort.”

Moore said sometimes people have a misconception that a student struggling in one area is behind across the board. “That’s not always the case,” she said. “Sometimes it’s a split between math and some communication arts items but there is brilliance in science.”

As a result, there is no one-size-fits-all approach.

While some efforts, such as credit recovery, are offered widely, others vary based on the school and student needs. District officials said that makes it nearly impossible to put a price tag on all the work that goes on.

All middle and high school principals were recently asked to list top remediation efforts.

They pointed to on-site mentoring programs that have top upperclassmen working with younger students, staff trained to intervene with the most at-risk students and even block scheduling — which permits longer class periods and the option of earning more credits in high school.

Credit recovery assists

At Kickapoo High School, teacher Brian Hall runs the credit recovery program. He said it’s sometimes the only way a student can recapture the credits they need to graduate.

“This is a way to help save kids and get them through high school,” Hall said. “Sometimes a (traditional) classroom setting is not the best for every student. This allows them to work independently.”

The scope of many of the existing remedial and intervention efforts are limited by space and funding. For example, there are waiting lists for most of the alternative programs and there aren’t enough reading and math specialists to go around.

Typically students who need the most remediation are missing foundational building blocks in reading and math. For example, a student who has never mastered multiplication tables may become completely discouraged when the lessons turn to division or fractions.

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“If you can dig down and figure out what the barrier is, you can fill that gap and get somebody back on track for success,” said Moore, the associate superintendent. “And I think we’re getting better as a system of doing that.”

The cost of doing nothing

Springfield designates part of every year’s budget to such efforts because the cost of doing nothing — of not helping students catch up — is too great.

“Everybody has to take responsibility for the child whenever they interact and say ‘OK, this child is here and I’m ready to meet them where they are and provide what they need’ and then look for the resources,” said Hubbard, a former elementary teacher and principal. “You can’t say that when we have a child … and they’re still struggling, that no one along the way has tried. We always have to continue trying. We don’t give up on kids.”

Students who fall behind can feel like giving up.

“Sometimes you have a smart kid but you can tell they are missing this chunk,” said Beth Nickle, a teacher who works with struggling students at Study Alternative High. “For students who didn’t learn what they needed in the early grades, there’s a sense of frustration and a lack of confidence in their abilities because they realize they are missing skills.”

Moore said it’s “really hard and painful” to watch students who repeatedly struggle and fail to keep pace academically.

“It doesn’t take too many of those situations — where a child is not successful — and they slowly begin to shut down. And they internalize it very often if you can’t find the key,” said Moore, who oversees educational services. “We have to provide them with some successes they can build on what they can do.”

She worries about the students who are so frustrated that they “get very quiet and just almost disappear.”

“They don’t engage and they make different choices because they don’t feel like they have good choices,” Moore said. “You don’t draw any attention to yourself, do your seat time (in class) and almost just fade into the woodwork.”

Associate Superintendent Justin Herrell, who oversees middle and high school, said students who succeed are prepared, motivated and feel a sense of belonging at school.

“A lot of our students who may become very much at risk of dropping out are extremely capable cognitively but they’re disengaged,” Herrell said. “They don’t see value in what’s happening or there are other things that may be pulling them off path. It’s not always the student who doesn’t get it who is at risk and needing intervention.”